LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Africa: Saharan Africa
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Africa has the longest human history of any continent. African hominids date from at least 4 million years ago; agriculture, brought from SW Asia, appears to date from the 6th or 5th millennium B.C. Africa's first great civilization began in Egypt in 3400 B.C.; other ancient centers were Kush and Aksum. Phoenicians established Carthage in the 9th cent. B.C. and probably explored the northwestern coast as far as the Canary Islands by the 1st cent. B.C. Romans conquered Carthage in 146 B.C. and controlled N Africa until the 4th cent. A.D. Arabs began their conquest in the 7th cent. and, except in Ethiopia, Muslim traders extended the religion of Islam across N Africa and S across the Sahara into the great medieval kingdoms of the W Sudan. The earliest of these kingdoms, which drew their wealth and power from the control of a lucrative trans-Saharan trade in gold, salt, and slaves, was ancient Ghana, already thriving when first recorded by Arabs in the 8th cent. In the 13th cent. Ghana was conquered and incorporated into the kingdom of ancient Mali, famous for its gold and its wealthy capital of Timbuktu. In the late 15th cent. Mali was eclipsed by the Songhai empire and lost many provinces but remained an autonomous kingdom.
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Alan Guttmacher "Traditionally, in some parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, premarital sexual relationships are encouraged because young women are expected to prove their fecundity prior to establishing a union. In most Sub-Saharan African countries, 40% or more of 20-24-year-old women have sexual intercourse prior to their first marriage-and before the age of 20."
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Once in Africa, customers can reach any combination of the 25 Sub-Saharan destinations served by SAA by using the Star Alliance African Airpass. This ticket, which is based on a special fare of US$ 0.15* per mile flown, can be purchased in conjunction with any intercontinental return ticket to an African destination issued by a Star Alliance member.
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Bioponic Phytoceuticals launched Curemisinin for the treatment of malaria in Guinea, Africa. Bioponic, an innovative provider of natural products and patented technology serving the Complementary Alternative Medicine (CAM) and nutraceutical markets, announced the launch of Curemisinin, an all natural anti-malaria product that is based on three proven effective anti-malaria herbs: artemesia, turmeric and cinchona bark, uniquely extracted through the company’s proprietary extraction/distillation technologies. This binary product comprises a nasal spray (Curemisinin A) with an oral spray (Curemisinin B) to treat malaria in the quickest, most effective manner. Malaria is a disease caused by a blood parasite transmitted by mosquitoes. It is the number one killer in sub-Saharan Africa, killing more than a million people worldwide every year. The majority of those who die from malaria are African children, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
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An item used in Africa from antiquity, kola is indigenous to the forest zone of West Africa and is still preferred by Muslims who are prohibited from using alcohol and tobacco. It was valued as a refreshing stimulant and food by desert travelers during the trans-Saharan caravan trade and in the early stages of trade between the rain-forest regions, the Sahel, and beyond. In the sixteenth century, Askia Mahmoud supplied kola to his Songhai troops as an "energizer" before battle. Over forty species of kola are grown in the region between Sierra Leone and the Congo, with several varieties existing in Ghana alone. From ancient times, West Africans have ... used different parts of the kola plant for treating swellings and fresh wounds. Ghanaians use it to reduce labor pain during childbirth and for treating guinea worm.
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In 1998, 70% of the world's 5.8 million new AIDS infections were in Sub-Saharan Africa. In Botswana, 25% of all adults are HIV-positive. In Zimbabwe and Namibia, the rate is 20%; Zambia 19%, Swaziland 18%, and 10% or more in several other African countries. Communications Consortium Media Center Mar 99
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